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Navajo Code Talkers
Navajo men used their language as a code to communicate with others during WWII. They were a small band of warriors who created an unbreakable code from the ancient language of their people and changed the course of modern history. The idea of using Navajo as code in World War II came from a veteran of World War I, Philip Johnston. Johnston, knowledgeable in the use of Native American languages during the First World War, knew of the military's search for a code that would withstand all attempts to decipher it. He was also the son of a missionary, raised on the Navajo reservation, spoke fluent Navajo. He believed Navajo answered the military requirement for an undecipherable code as it was an unwritten language of extreme complexity. After an impressive demonstration, the Marine Corps called upon the Navajo Nation to support the military effort by recruiting and enlisting Navajo men to serve as Marine Corps Radio Operators. Who were they? They were young Navajo men who transmitted secret communications on the battlefields of WWII. At a time when America's best cryptographers were falling short, these modest sheepherders and farmers were able to fashion the most ingenious and successful code in military history. They drew upon their proud warrior tradition to brave the dense jungles of Guadalcanal and the exposed beachheads of Iwo Jima. Serving with distinction in every major engagement of the Pacific theater from 1942-1945, their unbreakable code played a pivotal role in saving countless lives and hastening the war's end. The Code The code they created at Camp Pendleton was very effective. It originated as approximately 200 terms—growing to over 600 by war's end—and could communicate in 20 seconds what took coding machines of the time 30 minutes to do. It consisted of native terms that were associated with the respective military terms they resembled. For example, the Navajo word for turtle meant "tank," and a dive-bomber was a "chicken hawk." To supplement those terms, words could be spelled out using Navajo terms assigned to individual letters of the alphabet—the selection of the Navajo term being based on the first letter of the Navajo word's English meaning. For instance, "Wo-La-Chee" means "ant," and would represent the letter "A". In this way the Navajo Code Talkers could quickly and concisely communicate with each other in a manner uninitiated Navajos could not understand. http://www.navajocodetalkers.org/code_talker_story/ The Alphabets * ALPHABET NAVAJO WORD LITERAL TRANSLATION #1. A WOL-LA-CHEE ANT #2. A BE-LA-SANA APPLE #3. A TSE-NILL AXE #4. B NA-HASH-CHID BADGER #5. B SHUSH BEAR #6. B TOISH-JEH BARREL #7. C MOASI CAT #8. C TLA-GIN COAL #9. C BA-GOSHI COW #10. D BE DEER #11. D CHINDI DEVIL #12. D LHA-CHA-EH DOG #13. E AH-JAH EAR #14. E DZEH ELK #15. E AH-NAH EYE #16. F CHUO FIR #17. F TSA-E-DONIN-EE FLY #18. F MA-E FOX #19. G AH-TAD GIRL #20. G KLIZZIE GOAT #21. G JEHA GUM #22. H TSE-GAH HAIR #23. H CHA HAT #24. H LIN HORSE #25. I TKIN ICE #26. I YEH-HES ITCH #27. I A-CHI INTESTINE #28. J TKELE-CHO-G JACKASS #29. J AH-YA-TSINNE JAW #30. J YIL-DOI JERK #31. K JAD-HO-LONI KETTLE #32. K BA-AH-NE-DI-TININ KEY #33. K KLIZZIE-YAZZIE KID #34. L DIBEH-YAZZIE LAMB #35. L AH-JAD LEG #36. L NASH-DOIE-TSO LION #37. M TSIN-TLITI MATCH #38. M BE-TAS-TNI MIRROR #39. M NA-AS-TSO-SI MOUSE #40. N TSAH NEEDLE #41. N A-CHIN NOSE #42. O A-KHA OIL #43. O TLO-CHIN ONION #44. O NE-AHS-JAH OWL #45. P CLA-GI-AIH PANT #46. P BI-SO-DIH PIG #47. P NE-ZHONI PRETTY #48. Q CA-YEILTH QUIVER #49. R GAH RABBIT #50. R DAH-NES-TSA RAM #51. R AH-LOSZ RICE #52. S DIBEH SHEEP #53. S KLESH SNAKE #54. T D-AH TEA #55. T A-WOH TOOTH #56. T THAN-ZIE TURKEY #57. U SHI-DA UNCLE #58. U NO-DA-IH UTE #59. V A-KEH-DI-GLINI VICTOR #60. W GLOE-IH WEASEL #61. X AL-NA-AS-DZOH CROSS #62. Y TSAH-AS-ZIH YUCCA #63. Z BESH-DO-TLIZ ZINC http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq61-4.htm Photos http://www.navajocodetalkers.org/photos/ Awarde Since World War II in 1939, the Navajo Code Talkers were finally awarded with a medal in 2001. After all the cruelty and sufferings the Native Americans, in more content the Navajos, went through with the government they still helped and were ready when called for duty.